Porter stepped down on Wednesday after both Willoughby and his first wife Colbie Holderness went public with their accounts of sustained physical and emotional abuse in Dailymail.com.

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The comments came the day after White House chief of staff John Kelly tried to assure staff that the Trump administrations takes domestic violence “very seriously” amid mounting questions about how Porter managed to maintain a position of high influence despite the allegations. Porter was denied a final security clearance, who at the White House was aware of this information, and how Mr.

“I’m not going to get into the specifics”, Shah said when Fox News’ John Roberts asked him whether Kelly knew in November. “The incidents took place long before he joined the White House”.

Trump said he was sad to learn of the allegations, but added: “As you probably know, he says he’s innocent”.

But, we know – again thanks to CNN reporting – that Hicks was one of a handful of people involved in the crafting of Kelly’s first – and hugely supportive – statement on Porter.

Shah said Porter, whose job included presenting Trump with classified documents, was serving in the White House with a temporary security clearance while law enforcement officials continued to conduct a comprehensive background check.

As staff secretary, Porter was largely responsible for controlling the flow of information to the president. “I am proud to serve alongside him”. Mike Lee (R-UT) (R) as they return to the White House December 4, 2017 in Washington, DC.

By Thursday, Porter had left the White House permanently as attention on the abuse allegations increased. The accusations of the two former wives likely blocked Porter’s security clearance application.

Trump has spoken to his former chief of staff Reince Priebus about the current state of affairs in the White House, the person familiar with the conversations said, though not specifically the fallout from the Porter allegations.

Porter says he will stay on to ensure a smooth transition for his replacement. But two people close to the White House said Kelly and Joe Hagin, the deputy chief of staff for operations, as well as Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, had known of the issues since late fall.

When Cooper asked if she’s concerned for Hicks’ safety, Willoughby responded “It worries me for a lot of reasons”.

He was also seen as a neutral arbiter between warring West Wing factions, helping bridge gaps between those who worked on Trump’s campaign and the faction of aides who came from other Republican circles. “I was shocked by the new allegations released today against Rob Porter”.

Lewandowski initially denied ever touching Fields, but security-camera images later showed him roughly pulling her, The New York Times reported at the time, citing a police report.

Despite his resignation, Porter hit back at the accusations. Willoughby also said Porter was verbally abusive. I’ll be frank with you, if he hasn’t already been abusive to Hope, he will.

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Despite their history, Willoughby said she never wanted him to lose his White House job, because she thought he was good at it, but “this is a effect of his actions”.